vrbo

Have you guys ever used VRBO? Also affectionately pronounced, VerBo. I might be preaching to the choir here -- but just in case you haven't stumbled across it, it's an awesome site. I first heard about it a few years ago from someone at work who had used it for a vacation. I kept trying to repeat the web address to myself, vrbo, vrbo...it stands for Vacation Rentals by Owner!

You would not believe the database this site has, almost anywhere in the world you would want to go, has a vacation rental listed!

My first experience with staying in a place found on VerBo happened last week.  We rented a condo for our stay in St. Thomas. We initially found the place and contacted the owner about a year ago, checking for availability and asking a few other questions. There were so many places to choose from! But we were extremely pleased with the place we stayed in.

Of course I can't vouch for everyplace on VRBO but the owners of our condo were wonderful! They thought of everything! We felt right at home, the kitchen was stocked with all sorts of supplies, right down to the chip clips. It was a nice change from staying at a resort in a hotel room, we enjoyed having our own kitchen and a really comfy couch to plop down on. And plenty of space to spread ourselves and our clothes out!

Our condo was at a hotel/resort but many of the places had been converted into private condos. If you really want to check the place out, the listing is here.. And below is a shot (taken by sister of course) of the complex. We had three balconies! How nice is that?

You can read reviews of the rentals so you can (hopefully) get a true picture of what it would be like staying there. VRBO also offers a rental guarantee as well. After interacting with the owners I think you can get a pretty good feel of what kind of people they are too!

I think this would be awesome way to go to Europe. Sign me up for a villa by the sea in Italy and I would be set. How fun would that be to get a big group and rent an entire house?! Some places do only rent by the week, but others have daily rates more like hotels. You can usually work with the owners too. Our place in St. Thomas was very flexible, the owner easily worked it out with us to stay one extra day for a total of 8 nights.

It's fun to look up places and dream of your next vacation. Especially on a say, cloudy, dreary, not- quite-spring-yet, day. Happy Browsing!